Art Basel’s reputation for high-priced masterpieces is well-known, but savvy collectors know you don’t need millions to walk away with something extraordinary.

With a little hunting, you can find high-quality works for $5,000 or less. And that’s outside of the Art Basel Shop, a new-to-Paris endeavor where the self-referential merch and editions are priced more like a high-end concept store.

Paris, generally more affordable than Basel, offers visitors the perfect opportunity to combine a trip to the City of Light with a unique art purchase—without breaking the bank. Below are a few standout works at the fair, all priced under $5,000.

Tincuta Marin, Untitled (2024)

Tincuta Marin, Untitled (2024) at Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam booth in Art Basel Paris, October 2024.

Price: €4,000 (about $4,300)

Selling at: Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam

Romanian artist Tincuta Marin, born in 1995, makes figurative paintings inspired by Romanian folklore and ancient civilizations, including Egyptian mythology. Her Modernist aesthetic features vibrant pigments and textured layers, often incorporating masks and sculptures into her compositions. A recurring figure in her work is the Egyptian night goddess, whom she’s recreated in the form of a large bronze sculpture, that supports a painting on its flattened back. This goddess appears again in a smaller, beautiful painting, priced far lower than the bronze-based piece, which is listed at €33,000 (about $35,800). Marin’s works are also showcased at Plan B gallery, based in Cluj and Berlin.

Here’s a glimpse of her larger piece mentioned, as seen in the gallery’s Art Basel booth:

Tincuta Marin, Art Basel Paris 2024, Booth Ellen de Bruijne PROJECTS, photo by GRAYSC

Melvin Way, Works on Paper (2004, 2018)

Melvin Way (1954 – 2024) Untitled, c. 2004 Ballpoint pen and tape on paper 3 x 3 inches 9390. Courtesy Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York and Andrew Castrucci.

Price: €4,700  (about $5,090)

Selling at: Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York

Melvin Way (1954-2024) recently passed away at the age of 70. As an outsider artist, he struggled with schizophrenia and created hundreds of drawings on scraps of paper while living in New York City homeless shelters. He carried these densely packed drawings made in ballpoint pen and markers on bits of paper that he often taped together, and rolled up, believing they provided a kind of spiritual protection. Today, his works are held in museums worldwide, with former New York Times art critic Roberta Smith noting that Way’s drawings “seem to chart the energy of thought itself.” While his larger pieces command higher prices, at least two of his smaller works are available for under €5,000, including one for €3,800 (about $4,100).

Drawings by Melvin Way (1954-2024). Installation at Andrew Edlin Gallery, Art Basel Paris. Oct. 2024. Courtesy Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York and Andrew Castrucci.

Mohammad AlFaraj, The Last Words of a Tree (2024)

Mohammad AlFaraj, The Last Words of a Tree (2024). ATHR Gallery at Art Basel Paris. Oct. 2024. Photo by Devorah Lauter.

Price: €2,000 (about $2,168)

Selling at: ATHR Gallery, Jeddah, Riyadh, AlUla

Saudi Arabian artist Mohammad Al-Faraj, born in 1993, is an emerging multimedia artist with a poetic touch.

His work draws inspiration from oral traditions and legends, often utilizing simple materials like organic plant matter and soil, which he subtly transforms. A single overlooked leaf or grain of sand can become an entire world of poetic narrative in his hands. In his series “Fossils of Knowledge,” dried palm husks are re-arranged to resemble ancient, animal-like skeletons. Recently represented by Kamel Mennour, Al-Faraj is showcasing a new series at Art Basel titled The Last Words of a Tree. These works on paper are created by rolling and printing tree bark onto the surface, then drawing and painting with natural materials such as coffee, charcoal, mud, and other earthy pigments.

ATHR Gallery booth at Art Basel Paris, Oct. 2024. Photo courtesy of gallery.

Asma Bahmim, Reflection (2022)

Asma Bahmim, Reflection (2024). ATHR Gallery at Art Basel Paris. Oct. 2022. Courtesy of ATHR Gallery.

Price: €4,000 (about $4,300)

Selling at: Athr Gallery, Jeddah, Riyadh, AlUla

Back at ATHR Gallery, which is debuting this year at Art Basel, Asma Bahmim is showcasing stunning paintings on paper, using handmade pigments—honey being one of the key ingredients.

Born in 1979 in Jeddah, Bahmim draws inspiration from medieval miniature paintings of Islamic heritage, which she recontextualizes for contemporary audiences. One featured piece resembles a delicate, torn book, with several dyed and darkened handmade pages. Her larger works delve into a folkloric Arabic term that describes a demon-like female figure. Bahmim reclaims this concept, transforming it into a symbol of strength in her paintings, which also reference artists like Georgia O’Keeffe. Bahmim has previously exhibited at the 2013 Cairo Biennale and the 2024 Diriyah Biennale.

Lou Fauroux, K K-Detox, Hyperlink user’s assets ~x; Offline #004, (The Internet Collapse) (2024). 

Lou Fauroux, K-Detox, Hyperlink user’s assets ~x; Offline #004, (The Internet Collapse) (2024). 3D prints, epoxy resin, laser print, metal, plastic, electronic items, various objects 32 x 22 cm. Exo Exo gallery at Art Basel Paris. Oct. 2024. Photo courtesy of the gallery.

Price: €3,000 (about $3,250)

Selling at: Exo Exo, Paris

Lou Fauroux, born in 1998 in France, is presenting a 3D film installation called K-Detox, broadcast in split images across nine screens. The science-fictional film imagines a “post-internet” world, following a series of geopolitical disasters that forces humanity to learn how to cope without the internet, or “detox” from their digital dependence. Around the film hang small, resin bas-reliefs that act as relics of artifacts from life under the internet’s dominance. They include bits of iPhones, but also, abstracted, hard-to-identify forms, butterflies, fake jewelry, and keys.